


Just Like A Blinding Dream

by HawthorneWhisperer



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-09
Updated: 2015-11-09
Packaged: 2018-04-30 20:39:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5178830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HawthorneWhisperer/pseuds/HawthorneWhisperer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Madge + Gale + Ski Cabin= bedsharing and smut.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

When Delly invited everyone to spend President’s Day weekend at her parents’ cabin, Madge assumed it would be a great chance to get out of the city and spend four days reading and wearing cozy sweaters.  She never had any intention of skiing—just hanging out with her friends in the evenings and long, lazy days in front of the fire.  Plus she barely got to see Katniss since she moved in with Peeta, and Madge was really looking forward to some girl time with her and Delly.

She had not, however, counted on Gale Hawthorne.  When Delly sent out the final email Madge wasn’t surprised by his name—she just hadn’t realized he would be coming, was all.  It made sense, she supposed, since he was Katniss’ friend as well as Thom’s, but somehow, Gale coming along was slightly unsettling.  Probably because with him there it felt more like a triple date or a couple’s weekend with two long term couples and an awkward blind date.  Unless he brought his girlfriend with, which was entirely possible but somehow even  _more_  awkward for her.  She didn’t mind being the fifth wheel to Katniss and Peeta and Delly and Thom, but if Gale brought Johanna then she would be the only person in a house full of seven adults without a significant other and that felt pathetic.

It wasn’t that she didn’t like him.  They got along well enough in group settings, but she didn’t think she’d ever had a solo conversation with him.  She never sought him out, Katniss’ endless gripes about how much Gale hated kids who grew up with more than them and how hard it was for Gale to come around to Peeta echoing in her ears.  If Gale resented Peeta for growing up comfortably middle class—and who was, save Delly, the most likeable person Madge knew—chances of him warming to her were slim to none.  Plus, despite her best efforts Johanna still treated Madge like a total stranger.  The thought of spending four whole days with the two of them put her a little on edge, but she’d already promised Delly she would come.

 

Madge went up to the cabin—really a magnificent three bedroom house—with Delly on Thom on Thursday afternoon.  Madge had frozen when she walked into the tiny first floor bedroom and discovered that it had only one set of twin beds, momentarily panicked that Delly intended for her and Gale to share a room.  But Delly had just laughed at the expression on her face and said that Gale had offered to take the pullout couch, so she could stop looking like a nun in a brothel.  Delly went upstairs to get unpacked and Thom ran back to the liquor store because apparently there was no possible way two cases of beer, eight bottles of wine, and a handle of vodka was going to be enough for the weekend. Madge was a little concerned about her liver, to be honest.

Someone knocked on the door, and Delly called down from the loft to ask Madge to go let the rest of them in.  Madge swung the door open and found herself face to face with Gale Hawthorne…and only Gale Hawthorne.  “Where’s everyone else?” she asked, bewildered. 

“Coming later.  Mellark had something to do.  Uh…do you mind?”  He gestured toward the door with his duffle bag and Madge sprang aside, realizing belatedly that she’d been blocking the door.  Gale squeezed past her and into the living room as Delly tore down the staircase, squealing with delight.

“Gale!  Just put your stuff there—no, there, next to the fireplace—and we’ll set up the pullout later tonight.”  She pulled him into a patented Delly Cartwright rib-cracking hug, which he submitted to with relatively good grace.  Gravel crunched outside as Thom returned from the booze run and Delly ran outside in her usual flurry of activity to help, leaving Gale and Madge to look awkwardly at one another.

“So…have you ever skied before?” she tried, unable to take the silence for another second.

“Nope.  Too poor before, generally too busy now.  You?”

Madge winced internally at his reference to growing up poor.  She didn’t think that explaining the hundreds of dollars her dad had put into disastrous skiing lessons over several Spring Breaks in Tahoe and Whistler would go over well, so she settled for a simple, “No, not really my thing.”  And then they were staring at each other again, shifting from foot to foot.  His dark grey eyes were striking and Madge glanced away, her discomfort growing as she wondered just what the fuck was taking Delly and Thom so long and why on earth Gale was looking at her like that.  “So… Jo’s coming up with Katniss and Peeta?”  

Gale gave her an odd look. “Uh, no.  We broke up.  Few months ago, actually.”

 _Dammit_.  Now that he brought it up, she did remember Katniss mentioning the breakup, but Gale and Jo had broken up probably half a dozen times, so Madge just assumed they’d gotten back together again.  “Oh, um, sorry,” she muttered awkwardly, wondering if the entire weekend was going to be this uncomfortable.

“Don’t be.  It’s fine.” He shrugged and their staring contest continued.

After what seemed like ages but was probably just a minute or two, Delly and Thom burst back through the door, carrying the remains of an entire liquor store between them.  Gale stepped over to help and Madge escaped back into her room, sitting down on the moose-patterned duvet and telling herself to get a fucking grip or else this would be a long, long weekend.  Especially if he planned on wearing that stupid black henley all weekend, because Jesus Christ it fit him too well to be legal.

When she finally ventured back into the living room, Gale was outside with Thom pointing at something under the hot tub and arguing forcefully.  Delly was on a chair in the kitchen, putting away the metric ton of booze Thom had just purchased while a chicken roasted in the oven.  “Hot tub’s on the fritz,” she said, tipping her head toward the back porch.  “Gale thinks he can fix it, but they can’t agree on what’s wrong.”

Just then Gale happened to look through the french doors into the kitchen and catch Madge watching them.  He fell silent and half of his mouth quirked into a smile, but then Thom said something that made him roll his eyes and turn back to the open panel of switches and wires.

“Dell, where’s your dad’s toolbox?” Thom asked, poking his head in through the door.

“Basement, top shelf on the left.  Or maybe the right.  I forget. You guys figure it out?”

“Yeah, but he thinks we need a replacement valve, so I’ve gotta head out to the hardware store before it closes.”

Madge stepped in.  “You go to the store; I’ll get the toolbox.”  Thom smiled gratefully and headed for the front door as Madge went into the dank and musty basement.  She located the toolbox and carried it out to Gale, who was currently laying on his side, fiddling with a panel of switches and wires near the ground.  “I didn’t know that you were a part-time repair man,” she teased, setting the toolbox down on the concrete.

Gale gave a one shouldered shrug.  “When you’re poor you usually don’t have much choice but to fix it yourself.  Got good at it.”  Madge wondered if she was ever going to say something to him that didn’t make her feel like she put her foot in her mouth.  Gale glanced at her.  “Could you hand me some pliers?”

“Needle nose?”

“Yeah.”  Madge pulled the tool in question out and handed it over to him. He fiddled with something for a second and then cast a critical eye at her.  “Okay, Undersee.  C’mere—I need those tiny hands of yours.”  He laughed at the way she looked at her hands, puzzled.  They really weren’t very small. “They’re smaller than mine, okay?  Now get over here.”  She crouched next to him, the chill of the concrete seeping through her jeans.  “See that blue wire?  Way in the back?  I need you to hold that steady for me.”  Madge complied, acutely aware of the way his shoulders brushed against hers.  Gale squinted at his work for a bit, and then announced, “There.  If Thom can get the replacement valve, we should be good to go.”  He smiled at her, their faces still just inches apart.  “Thanks, by the way.”

“Mmhmm.  No problem,” she muttered as she rose to leave, feeling a traitorous blush spread across her cheeks.

Thom got back moments later and shortly after that Peeta and Katniss arrived, just in time for Delly to grab Madge and Katniss and drag them upstairs to get ready for Grown Up Dinner.

Grown Up Dinner was an invention of Delly’s during college—they would get all dressed up in their nicest clothes and have a fancy dinner party.  Only wine and mixed drinks were allowed, and even though it usually devolved into the usual college debauchery, it  _was_  a fun tradition.  It seemed a little silly to have it when they were all in their mid-twenties and actual grown ups, but Delly would not be deterred.  Secretly, Madge was excited for a chance to wear her new strapless navy dress, so she followed Delly upstairs to the big bathroom where the three of them wrangled their hair and helped each other with make up while the guys finished up dinner.

“Ready?” Delly called over the loft railing.

“Ready,” Thom affirmed.  “Make your entrance, ladies.”

They descended the stairs, Katniss wobbling a bit in the heels Delly and Madge insisted she wear.   Peeta offered Katniss his arm, and Thom took Delly by the hand.  Which left Gale who…was staring at Madge, his eyes traveling up and down her body.  Once again she felt her cheeks start to turn pink as he gave her a crooked half-smile.  He’d changed out of his jeans and henley and into a charcoal grey suit just a few shades darker than his eyes.  Madge mentally retracted her previous hope that he not spend the weekend in that henley and amended it to include this suit as well.  She smiled shyly at him as he held out his arm.  “Looks like it’s you and me, Undersee.”  She took it and he escorted her the fifteen feet to the dinner table where he pulled out her chair.  This was Gale’s first Grown Up Dinner since he hadn’t gone to college with them, but he seemed to be taking it in stride.

Gale sat across from her through Grown Up Dinner, which meant that they were constantly making eye contact during the endless toasts (another tradition Delly insisted they honor, where they toasted to anything and everything).  Three glasses of wine went a long way towards loosening her up and her previous awkwardness around Gale started melting away.

By the end of dinner, everyone was drunk.  Peeta was laughing hysterically at a story Delly was telling, his cheeks flushed.  Katniss smiled lazily at him, her eyes at half mast already.  Thom stumbled back at forth from the kitchen as he cleared away the plates.  Madge got up to help, but on her way back to the table something glittering outside caught her eye.  Snowflakes were fluttering down, illuminated by the indoor lights.

Everyone else seemed preoccupied so she slipped through the doors and walked out past the upstairs deck to the edge of the freshly fallen snow.  The cold air wrapped around her, but the wine coursing through her veins kept it from really hitting her.

“You’ll get frostbite, standing out here dressed like that,” someone called from behind her.  Gale walked up beside her and crossed his arms.

She shrugged.  “Liquid overcoat.  Besides, I won’t get frostbite in a few minutes.  It’s just so pretty—the snow doesn’t fall like this in the city.”

“It is.  Reminds me of home, actually,” he observed.

“Mmm,” she replied absently, shivering slightly.

“You know, I almost didn’t come this weekend.”  Madge glanced at him, surprised.  “I thought it was going to be a couples’ thing, and thought showing up on my own would be pathetic.”  Madge stayed quiet, the idea that Gale had the same worries as her making her feel more at ease.  “Okay princess, you’re shivering.  Let’s go inside.”  Madge let him guide her back to the doors with his hand on the small of her back, its presence soothing and unsettling all at once.

 

 

Friday morning, Madge agreed to spend the day at the lodge.  She flat out refused to ski—which made Gale smother a grin for some reason—but relented under Delly’s endless begging and offered to bring her kindle to the lodge instead.  She would read while everyone else skied, and if anyone wanted a break Madge would be available for hot chocolate.  She was left to her own devices for the morning, blissfully reading in a cozy chair near the fire, until everyone returned, rosy cheeked and breathless, for lunch.

She had more company in the afternoon—Peeta needed a break, sheepishly admitting he wasn’t very good at skiing, and Delly stopped by to babble excitedly about seeing her old friend Octavia up on the slopes.  Madge had just returned from the bathroom when the frazzled-looking mother on the next couch addressed her.  “Hon, your boyfriend was looking for you,” she said, and at Madge’s confused look the woman tipped her head toward the concession stand where Gale stood in line.  He waved and Madge turned to clarify that he wasn’t her boyfriend but the woman’s baby spit up then and really, it wasn’t worth it.  Besides, it was an innocent assumption by someone who hadn’t even seen them interact.  Gale didn’t have much to say, but he didn’t seem quite sold on skiing, which secretly warmed Madge’s heart, since she pretty much hated it.  Everyone else trooped in shortly after, and Katniss and Peeta offered to go pick up some pizzas while everyone else headed home. 

The evening quickly devolved into a good old fashioned college rager.  Thom and Gale were shotgunning beers and Delly put on obnoxious pop music for dancing.  Gale was a surprisingly good dancer, something Madge hadn’t known before but now definitely appreciated.  Delly had invited Octavia, who showed up with her friend Venia in tow.  They were nice, albeit a little bit wild, and within an hour it was clear they would not be able to drive home.  Delly pulled Madge aside and loudly whispered that it would be best if Venia and Octavia got the pullout, so could Gale sleep on the other bed in her room?  Madge agreed, as did Gale, and she was glad she was already a little bit tipsy because the thought of sharing a room with Gale would have made her unreasonably edgy otherwise.

As it was, Madge was fine with it until Octavia stumbled up to her, slurring apologies.  “Sorry, what?”  Madge asked.

“Sorry.  I didn’t realize he was taken.  Won’t happen again.”

Madge was still lost.  “What?”

Octavia pointed her finger straight at Gale.  “Your boyfriend, sweetie.  I tried to dance with him but he set me straight. You’re lucky, you know,” she declared and stumbled off.  Madge was unnerved—this was the second time in a few hours that someone thought she was with Gale.  Was it just because of the way the rest of the group was paired off?  Or was everyone else seeing something she didn’t?  And did Octavia really mean that Gale had claimed to be taken?  By  _her?_ Or was he referring to Jo and their ever-changing status?

Before she could fully examine that, however, Delly announced that it was hot tub time.  Eight people was a tight squeeze and neither Octavia nor Venia had brought their suits (although they solved that problem by just stripping down to their underwear) but they almost managed.  Madge was somewhat squashed between Peeta and Gale, Peeta’s elbow digging into her side and Gale’s leg pressed against hers.  Gale rested his arm behind her—a safe distance away, and probably in an attempt to make more space, but it had the side effect of making Madge feel cocooned next to him.  In a good way, though.  Sharing space with him felt nice.  When she went to climb out she slipped and Gale’s hands reached out automatically and grabbed her waist.  The air was freezing but his hands burned into her as they made eye contact.  Gale let go hastily and muttered an apology and Madge hurried inside, away from the cold and a pair of entirely too direct grey eyes.

Madge changed into her pajamas and snuck into the bathroom to brush her teeth as Venia and Octavia came stumbling inside.  She could hear the two girls giggling and bumping around, but by the time she emerged they were sprawled out on the pullout, already asleep.  Gale was standing in her room, looking at the spare bed with an odd look on his face.  “Madge?  You feeling okay?” he asked.

“What?  Yeah, I’m fine. Why—oh god.”  She finally saw what he was looking at—a puddle of vomit, soaking into the bed.  “That wasn’t me, I swear.”

Gale shook his head.  “Probably one of those two out there.  I thought I saw them go in here, but I wasn’t paying attention.”

Madge’s brain whirred as she looked for a solution.  “We should throw that in the wash tonight, and maybe there’s some extra sheets somewhere?”  Gale agreed and they gingerly stripped the bed, but a quick survey of the closets showed that all the sheets were already in use.  Delly and Thom’s door was closed and both Gale and Madge knew from experience that interrupting them when they’d been drinking was not a great idea. 

“It’s fine.  I’ll just go grab a blanket from the living room and sleep on the floor,” Gale offered.

Madge took a deep breath.  “Or…you could just share with me.  It’s small, but it has to be better than the floor.”

“You sure?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Yeah, totally,” Madge lied.

By the time they got into bed together, Madge was cursing herself for the offer.  How incredibly awkward was this?  Sure, friends could share a bed and Gale was technically a friend, but this felt different.  Gale clearly felt it too, shifting his weight and trying to get comfortable.  They laid in awkward silence for awhile, neither of them anywhere near comfortable but unwilling to say anything until Gale bit the bullet.  “Okay.  This isn’t working.  Undersee, you tell me if this is crossing a line, all right?”  Gale rolled on his side and cinched an arm around her waist, pulling her back flush against his chest.

It was crossing every line in the book, actually, because spooning was in no way something friends would do, but Madge didn’t say so because if she was honest with herself, she liked it.  He was warm and steady against her back, and his arm around her had a delicious weight to it, keeping her anchored to him.  “This okay?” he asked and Madge nodded, the awkwardness of earlier abruptly melting away as she snuggled deeper into his embrace.


	2. Chapter 2

His arm was still around her when she woke up the next morning, pleasantly surprised at how well she’d slept considering the circumstances.  Gale was still asleep, his breath fanning against her neck.  There was something else she could feel too, of course.  Madge had shared enough beds with men to know that it wasn’t about  _her_  and that it would have happened if he woke up alone out on the pullout, but that didn’t stop a tiny smile creeping across her face.

Gale cleared his throat and discreetly readjusted himself away from her.  “Sleep okay, princess?” 

Madge smiled at his nickname for her.  She liked the teasing lilt in his voice, she realized.  “Mmmhmm,” she agreed and rolled off the edge of the bed.  She had slept well, even though the bed was small and cramped.  There was something about being tucked under his arm that was comforting and made sleeping in the tiny bed far easier than it should have been.

It turned out that Octavia and Venia had snuck out before anyone was awake, and Delly apologized profusely for their antics as everyone bundled up and headed to the cars—everyone except Madge, of course, who was staying behind for some much needed peace and quiet.  She’d been looking forward to an entire day in front of the fireplace with a few new books on her kindle.

 

In the end, however, she was only by herself in the cabin for a few hours because Gale came back early.  He claimed to have had enough of falling down the side of a mountain and had some work to do on anyway.  Madge was secretly glad he’d come back early—and alone—but just smiled and nodded.  Gale settled on the couch, across from Madge in the big arm chair)and set up his laptop, but pretty soon he swore under his breath and started digging through his duffle bag.

He emerged with a set of wire rimmed glasses that he perched on the edge of his nose.  Madge giggled and he looked over at her.  “What?”

“Nothing,” she sing-songed and pretended to return to her book.

“What?” he asked again.  “You wear glasses.  I saw you last night,” he pointed out.

“Yeah, but…I dunno, it’s different with you.  You’re so…” she trailed off, not entirely sure how she wanted to finish that sentence.  “It’s just…it’s cute,” she managed, her ears turning a little pink as she looked away.

“Cute, huh?  I guess I can work with that,” he flirted back, but Madge was so embarrassed she couldn’t bring herself to look him in the eye.

They studiously avoided each other for the next few hours, Gale working quietly and Madge (pretending to be) absorbed in her book (but actually sneaking glances at him out of the corner of her eye.)  A few times she thought she caught him looking back, but it was always too brief for her to be sure.

The light was fading and snow had been falling gently for nearly an hour when Madge closed her kindle and announced she was opening a bottle of wine.  Gale smiled up at her.  “Mind pouring me a glass?  I’m almost done with this anyway.”  Madge returned with two large glasses of red wine just as he shut down his laptop.  He raised his eyebrows over the glasses.  “You trying to get me drunk, Undersee?”

“Maybe,” she admitted, bravely taking a seat on the couch with him, curling against the armrest.

Gale folded his glasses back into their case and winked at her.  “Sorry to disappoint, princess, but I don’t need them unless I’m on the computer.”  Madge shrugged, temporarily embarrassed again at her lame attempts at flirting, but Gale didn’t seem put off.  In fact, he picked up where she had left off, flirting and teasing her as they sipped their wine and the light faded almost entirely outside.  The living room darkened, but neither of them made a move to turn on the lights.  The fire was putting off enough light, Madge reasoned, and she was nice and cozy under the blanket Gale had tucked over her legs sometime between halfway through her first glass of wine and the start of her second.  He’d brought the bottle out to them to save time, and honestly, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d talked to someone so easily.  She was just about to admit that when her phone rang, sending her scrambling across the room to answer it.

It was Katniss, sounding exasperated.  “We’re stuck.”

“What?  Is something wrong with Thom’s car?  We could—“

“Madge, have you looked outside at any point in the last two hours?” Katniss interrupted.  Madge glanced out the window next to the fireplace and was shocked to realize the steady snowfall from earlier in the day had picked up to a full-blown storm.  She’d been so absorbed in her conversation with Gale she hadn’t even noticed.  “Dell says the roads are going to be too bad for us to get back to the cabin, so she’s getting us a hotel room.”

Madge turned to relay the information to Gale, but he was frowning at the light switch between the living room and kitchen.  “Uh, Madge?  I think the power’s out.  Ask Delly if there’s a generator.”

“Crap, okay,” she called back and then returned her attention to Katniss.  “Shit, I’m sorry.”  Katniss grumbled a bit about how she wanted to leave earlier, but everyone else was having too much fun.  “That sucks, Katniss, really.  Is Delly around though?  Gale thinks the power went out and he wants to know if there’s a generator.”  There was a muffled conversation on the other end of the line while Katniss checked with Delly.

“She says there is, but there’s probably not a lot of gas, so only use it if it’s an emergency.  You guys going to be all right?”

“Yeah, we’ll be fine.  We’ve got plenty of wood for the fireplace anyway.  You guys okay?”

Katniss huffed a bit, still clearly annoyed with everyone else.  “Yeah, we’ll survive.  See you…eventually,” she said and rang off.

“What’s up?”  Gale asked, balancing last night’s pizza box on one hand.

“They’re stuck—roads are pretty bad, I guess, so Delly’s getting everyone a hotel.”

“That sucks.  What’s the word on the generator?”

“There is one, but not a whole lot of gas so we’re only supposed to use it if we absolutely have to.”

Gale shrugged.  “The fireplace should be good enough, as long as you’re okay with sleeping out here.”  He looked at her questioningly and she nodded.  Gale tilted his head towards the pizza.  “Hungry?  I was going to heat it up, but I guess that’s out.”

Madge agreed and they arranged themselves on the floor, the pizza between them and the wine balancing on the stone apron in front of the fireplace.  They easily slipped back into their conversation from earlier, and pretty soon they’d killed the entire bottle of wine and Madge was feeling pleasantly warm and floaty. She’d introduced Gale to Fuck Marry Kill, and he was currently sitting parallel to her, his legs stretched out in the opposite direction from hers and his head tipped back as he contemplated her latest challenge.  “Okay, here we go.  Fuck Batman, marry Spiderman, and kill Superman, if that’s even possible.” 

Madge snorted as she took a sip of wine.  “You’re thinking about this all wrong.  You marry  _Batman_ , because Bruce Wayne is loaded.  Spiderman?  Pssh.” 

“Yeah, but I think Spiderman would, like,  _get_  me.  We’d have a lot in common, and I’m used to being poor.  Besides, he’s funny.”

Madge rolled her eyes, but her retort died on her tongue when she noticed the way he was looking at her, his eyes dark.  He was only inches away, his gaze flickering between her eyes and her lips.  She canted her head forward, closing the distance between them and skimming her lips against his until he cupped the back of her neck and drew her closer to deepen the kiss.  Madge slipped her tongue into his mouth and he moaned quietly, sliding his tongue against hers.  A few minutes later (her fingers were tangled in his hair, his hand resting on her waist) he pulled back.  “Christ,” he muttered.  “Do that again.”

“Do what?” she whispered, her lips brushing against his.

“Kiss me like that.”

Madge smirked.  “I will if you’ll stop talking,” she reprimanded, cradling his face in her hands and pulling him with her as she laid down.

Madge lost track of time—kissing Gale apparently had that effect on her.    Night had fallen outside and the only light inside the entire cabin came from the fireplace, flickering across his face on the rare occasions he broke away from her.  Eventually he peeled off her thick cardigan and tugged her shirt over her head.  His hand dropped to her waist and he pulled back just far enough to look her in the eye. “Okay?” he asked quietly, and at her nod he popped open the button to her jeans.

Gale made quick work of her jeans and underwear, pressing one last kiss to her lips before crawling down her body and settling on his stomach between her legs.  She opened her mouth to say something, but at the first touch of his tongue to her center she suddenly forgot what she was going to say.  She put her feet flat on the ground with her knees in the air and lost herself to the sensation, to the feel of his tongue flicking at her clit and his finger pressing inside her.  She moaned and arched her back, wanting more, and then suddenly the pressure that had been building inside of her erupted without warning, her legs trembling and her muscles seizing.

Gale kissed his way back up her body, a smug smile on his face.  Madge was panting, desperately trying to regain her bearings, while he nuzzled at her collarbone.  He snaked a hand under her back and unhooked her bra.  “Forgot to get rid of this,” he murmured against the skin of her shoulder.  Madge let out an almost wild laugh and turned to kiss him again.  “Madge, do you…do you have any condoms?” Gale managed between kisses, his hair ruffled after Madge quickly pulled his shirt off.  “I didn’t—this wasn’t in the plan.”

“Uh…yeah.”  Madge went to get up, but Gale stopped her.

“I got it.  Where are they?”

Toiletry bag, probably near the bottom?”

Gale grabbed a blanket from the couch and tucked it securely around her.  “You stay right here, okay?”  He kissed her forehead and practically ran to her room.  The temperature in the cabin was dropping, and while her side facing the fire was toasty warm, she could feel a chill creeping in on the other side.  She snuggled deeper into the blanket as Gale returned, several condoms clutched in his fist.  At her questioning look he shrugged.  “So I’m feeling optimistic.”

His smile cut straight to her core—teasing, hopeful, and just a bit dangerous.  Madge sat up to kiss him and crawled into his lap, too eager to feel his skin against hers to wait for him to lie down.  It took a little maneuvering to get the condom on, but the instant he finished rolling it on Madge guided him inside her.  Gale’s hands never left her back, pulling her against him in a steady rhythm.  She crossed her ankles behind his back to lock herself close to him.  She pinned her forehead to his as they moved together, breathing each other’s air, his pupils blown wide in the dim light.  Her orgasm caught her off guard and she dropped her head to Gale’s shoulder, breathing hard.  “Can I…?” Gale asked and tipped his head over her shoulder.  Too tired to respond she nodded and let Gale move her to her back, his speed increasing as he pounded into her, whispering her name in her ear he emptied himself into the condom.

 

They lay entwined in one another with the blanket strewn over them until the fire started to die down.  Madge was nearly asleep, her head on his chest, and he gently roused her.  “I’m going to pull out the bed, okay?  Where are your pajamas?”

“In a pile at the foot of my bed.  Why?”

“Don’t worry about it, princess,” he responded and kissed her forehead gently.  The next thing she knew Gale was shaking her shoulder, her pajamas warming in front of the now roaring fire.  “The bed will be more comfortable, I promise,” he assured her.  She sleepily dressed—the warm pajamas were a nice touch, she’d give him that—and climbed into the pullout bed, wrapping herself around Gale.  His warmth enveloped her as she fell sleep.

The sunlight streaming in through the two story windows was bright enough to hurt her eyes when Madge woke up the next morning.  Gale was up and the smell of coffee drifted in from the kitchen.  “Power’s on,” he told her when he saw that she was awake.  “And Katniss texted to say they’ll be back around lunchtime.”  He disappeared into the kitchen briefly and returned with a mug off coffee that he set down on the end table.  “And it’s already after eleven, princess,” he said, ruffling her hair as she struggled to sit up.

In the light of day and the impending return of their friends, what had seemed so easy and natural last night suddenly became daunting.   _I had sex with Gale.  In a cabin.  In front of a fireplace.  During a snowstorm.  The only thing missing from the cliché was a bearskin rug._   Gale sat down on the edge of the pullout while she gulped down the coffee.  It burned but she was desperate for something to do.  “So, about last night,” Gale started.   _Here we go.  Here comes the “this was a mistake” speech_ , she thought.  “Did you—did you want to tell people?”

His question caught her off guard.  Delly and Thom’s teasing would be insufferable if they found out and they still had another twenty four hours in this house with everyone.  “Maybe—not yet?” she responded.

Gale curved his palm around her cheek.  “Okay.”

“We don’t really need to define this, you know.  Maybe it’s better if we don’t,” Madge said.   _You just broke up with Jo, after all.  Chances are this is just a rebound_.  She didn’t know why that thought sent a stab of pain through her heart, but it did.

Gale kissed her forehead.  “Sounds good,” was all he said, all but confirming her suspicions.

They had just finished folding the pullout back when everyone else arrived.  Katniss was in a foul mood and Peeta seemed a little exasperated—with her and with Delly and Thom—but no one seemed to notice just how drastically things had changed for Madge and Gale.  Which was good, she reminded herself.  They weren’t supposed to know.

Things got a little better as the afternoon wore on and people broke out the last of the booze.  Once more Delly declared it time for hot tubbing, and without Venia and Octavia they all fit just fine.  Gale was across from her this time but after a few minutes she felt something against her leg.  Gale kept his face studiously blank as he rubbed her ankle with his foot, although she saw a little flicker in his eyes when she responded and dragged the arch of her foot along his calf muscle.

That was their only real interaction for the rest of the evening, and after the intimacy of the previous night Madge felt like she was going to go out of her skin.  She wasn’t sure if this was anything but Gale getting over Johanna, but she wanted more while she could have it.  So she waited until she heard Gale head into the bathroom and then slipped out of her room.  With the lights off and the door closed, if anyone came down it would look like she was already asleep.  She followed him into the bathroom and ignored his gasp of surprise, sealing her lips to his and pushing him back against the sink.  He held her tightly and nipped at her lower lip.    His hands crept under the hem of her shirt and up to cup her breasts.  His fingers plucked at her nipples, making her head drop back in pleasure.

She snaked her hand into his pajama pants and stroked him.  He got harder and harder with each pass of her hand and she quickly dropped to her knees and pulled his pants and boxers down.  Madge took him in her mouth and set a steady rhythm between her hand and lips.  She liked the feel of him in her mouth, his salt taste and weight on her tongue.  Gale’s knuckles turned white and the tendons in his neck stood out with the strain of staying quiet as she sucked harder and harder until she felt him shudder and pulse.  She swallowed and stood to kiss him once more.  “Madge,” he murmured against her lips.  “What the hell was that?”  She shrugged and smiled at the same time, because honestly, she wasn’t sure.  She just knew that tomorrow, they were all packing up and going home and whatever had happened between her and Gale this weekend might be over and she wasn’t quite ready for that to happen.  “Should we talk about this?” he asked. 

But Madge shook her head and kissed him one last time before her doubts could show on her face.  She ducked out and scurried back to her room, wishing she was just a little bit braver.  But asking if he wanted to continue it and hearing that he didn’t?  She didn’t feel like dealing with that quite yet.  Maybe she’d try and corner him tomorrow, before everyone left.

She never got that chance.  By the time she stumbled out of her room the next morning Gale was already gone.  She casually inquired as to why he’d left, but no one seemed to know.  He’d gotten a phone call early in the morning and left a note on the counter that just said “Something came up.  Had to leave.  Sorry.”

Madge felt a little slighted, even though she knew she had no real claim to him.  But the fact that he’d left a note for everyone else and nothing for her specifically stung.  Plus, she realized, she didn’t have his phone number.  She remembered where he lived thanks to everyone meeting there one night before going out to the bars—it was just a few blocks from her place, actually—but if she wanted to see him alone, even just to talk, that was probably her only option.  She helped everyone clean and pack up the cabin but she could tell her smiles seemed forced.  No one asked directly what was going on, but Delly sent her more than one questioning look.

That night she sat in her apartment, her bags still half unpacked, and stared at her phone.   _Delly would have his number_ , _but she’d want to know why I needed it.  But Gale might not want anyone else to know and she would definitely tell Thom and probably Katniss.  And Katniss would have his number but she’d tell Peeta and again, Gale probably doesn’t want them to know_.  She looked at the time and made up her mind—maybe it was crazy and maybe it would seem desperate, but she needed to talk to him, so she threw on her coat and headed over to his apartment building.

One of his neighbors let her in, holding the door open with his foot while she dithered by the intercom.  She probably should have buzzed Gale anyway, just to give him a heads up, but the older gentleman raised his eyebrows pointedly as he waited so she gave in and followed him inside.  She took the elevator up to Gale’s floor and hoped that her memory was correct as she knocked on the door.

It was, but Gale’s face went from confusion to shock in record time when he saw it was her.  “Hey, so I know this is weird to just show up like this but I do think we should talk about what happened this weekend,“ Madge blurted out.

“Is that the Chinese?” a sharp voice called out from inside the apartment and Gale’s eyes closed as if he was in pain.

Madge recognized the voice—Johanna.   _Johanna_.  That was why he left early—he was getting back together with Jo.  She should have known, she should have suspected, should have done anything but be such a goddamn idiot to show up at his  _apartment_  expecting him to talk to her.  “Oh god, I’m sorry—I’ll go, I’m sorry,” she stammered and set off for the elevator as quickly as she could.  She mashed the button and prayed for it to arrive faster as footsteps pounded down the hall after her.

“Madge, wait—please,” Gale called.  He was barefoot in jeans and a t shirt and his hair was still drying from a shower and it was that little domestic detail that almost did her in.  “It’s not—this isn’t what you think,” he said breathlessly as the elevator doors slid open and Madge stepped on. 

“It’s fine,” she told him coldly and hit the button for the lobby.  She made it until the doors closed before she started crying.  She wasn’t sure why it hit her so hard—it was just a weekend, just a weekend in which she’d  _known_  she was probably just a rebound.  She didn’t think it was anything serious, but she also didn’t think he would literally leave the cabin before dawn to go running back to Jo.

Gale must have broken down and gotten her number from Delly or Katniss because he texted two days later.

< _It’s Gale.  Can we talk? >_

Madge stared at her phone and almost replied a half dozen times but never hit send.  There wasn’t anything to talk about.  And really, it wasn’t like they had some deep connection that couldn’t be denied.  Not like what he had with Jo.  So she ignored his text and he never tried again.

She didn’t see him until a month later when Delly and Thom threw a big engagement party for themselves.  Madge was happy for them, but she dreaded seeing Gale and Jo.  She wasn’t sure she would be able to block the memories of his smile, his taste, and the way he felt inside of her when she saw them together.

Gale wasn’t at the restaurant when she arrived, which was a small blessing.  She got to hug Delly and Thom and say hello to their parents without feeling like her chest was going to collapse, and she was happily chatting to one of Delly’s cousin’s when a familiar frame darkened the door.

He was alone.  That was a surprise, although Jo had never been too big on their circle of friends, so maybe not that unusual.  Gale thumped Thom on the back and gave Delly a kiss on the cheek but instead of staying and talking to them he turned and headed straight for her.  “Hey,” he said, completely ignoring Delly’s cousin who looked him up and down shamelessly.

“Hey,” Madge said back coldly, turning to ask the cousin—she’d forgotten his name already—about his job again.

“Are we really going to be like this?” Gale snapped and Delly’s cousin bugged his eyes out and then slowly edged away.

“Like what?” she snapped back.  “It’s not like we were friends or anything.  It’s no big deal.”   Heads were turning their way (apparently the Cartwright penchant for gossip was hereditary) so she lowered her voice.  “There’s really nothing to talk about, okay?”

Gale huffed angrily and grabbed her arm.  “No.  It’s not okay.  So we can either talk about this right here with a dozen people watching, or we can go outside and figure this out,” he hissed.

“Fine,” she scoffed and stalked through the crowded room to the currently deserted smoker’s patio.  The weather had warmed considerably the past few weeks but the cold quickly cut through her thin sweater.

Gale crossed his arms and glowered at her.  “Don’t you ever wear a jacket?”

“No.  So what did you want to talk about, because as far as I can tell, there’s nothing to say.”

“Goddammit.  How can you say that?  For one thing, if you’d have fucking talked to me at any point in the last few weeks you’d know that I am  _not with Jo._ ”

“Right,” she said, disbelief dripping from her tone.

“It’s not like that, okay?   Jo was in a car accident and I’m still her emergency contact, so the hospital called me when she was brought in.  I’m sorry I didn’t tell you when I left, but it was five in the morning and I kind of freaked out.  She was all banged up and on crutches and her building doesn’t have an elevator so I took her to my place.  Her friend picked her up the next day.”  He stepped closer to her, toe to toe, and lowered his voice.  “You weren’t a rebound.  I promise.”

Madge was speechless.  “Gale, I—I’m sorry.”

He lifted his hand to her cheek.  “I am too.  Think we could give this a shot?”

Madge nuzzled his hand.  “I think so.”

“Good,” he said.  “But fair warning—I’m going to kiss you now, but we’ve got a bit of an audience.”

“Wha—“ but then he was kissing her and sure, she could hear applause coming through the window, but for now, that didn’t matter.

And maybe when they went back in—cheeks flushed and not necessarily from the cold—Thom loudly announced that he  _knew_  something was going on but for once she didn’t mind being the center of attention. Gale threw his arm over her shoulder and she rose on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek and they let themselves be drawn into the party again, this time together.


End file.
